An enemy of my enemy is my friend
by Vlindervin
Summary: AU in which Nico is a Roman demigod and Will a Greek one. Enemies to lovers kind of thing. Solangelo


Several words fill Nico's head when he walks into the room, none of them positive. Reyna had insisted he'd be there, although he clearly doesn't want to. But it's no use saying no to Reyna, you'll end up doing it anyway. _I need you there_ and _you're one of the only people I really trust_ and _please._ The last one is always the one that ends up convincing him, because it means she truly wants him to come and he just can't deny her that; she's one of his only close friends after all. He wonders if she'd still want him here after he kills one of the Graeci. He doesn't even understand why this is necessary in the first place. Or he pretends he doesn't.

 _An enemy of my enemy is my friend._

That's what Reyna had said trying to persuade him it was a good idea. But honestly, he doesn't think he'll ever be friends with these people.

 _An enemy of my enemy is less my enemy than my actual enemy,_ is probably more accurate. It sounds like shit, though and shitty proverbs rarely live on.

He takes a deep breath, preparing himself to face the Greeks. He steps into the room. It's worse than he expected. Reyna and Jason are standing straight at one side of the room, a serious but slightly judging look on their faces. One Greek boy is sitting on a chair, slouched down and is seemingly engaged in what seems to be a friendly game of arm-wrestling with a blonde girl. The boy is quite handsome, Nico supposes.

He scans the room and huffs when he sees that all Greek demigods are acting like the world isn't about to end if they don't do something fast. He catches Reyna's eye and scrunches his eyes. He lightly shakes his head at her, making it clear he regrets coming already. The boy from earlier with the piercing sea green eyes lets out a bark of laughter that would have Nico jumping in surprise if it weren't for the fact that he's got a lot of training up his sleeve. The blonde girl seems to have beaten him at arm-wrestling; there's a victor's light shining in her eyes. Nico decides she might not be that bad if she shows the same determination on the battlefield.

Then he looks up and locks eyes with a pair of blue ones.

The boy has hair like midnight and a face more handsome than any of the gods, with dark eyes that look ready to kill them all by simply shooting one single glare. When their eyes lock, a little tingle creeps up his spine, making him suppress a shudder and giving him goose bumps.

The Romans are standing in a straight line, looking at Will's fellow campers in distaste and arrogance. They're scanning the room, some have pursed lips, others have their eyebrows raised, others are straight-up rolling their eyes at them. Will can feel that this collaboration is going to be hard.

A girl with dark hair in a ponytail steps forward. She looks like a praetor just fine. Straight back and a feeling of authority in her eyes. She rasps her throat. 'Excuse me, could I have your attention?'

The chatter and banter die down the moment she utters a word. All eyes are fixated on her.

'I know none of us want to be here, but it would be in the best interest for both our camps and the future of younger demigods that we try our best to work together and defeat Gaia. That's the most important thing right now. So, let's forget about our rivalry and frustration and pour it all into fighting.'

 _That won't be easy when you keep looking at us as if we're ten miles beneath you._

The damage isn't bad enough to dismantle his brain and senses. Nico feels the burning pain of a wound in between his ribs. It's excruciating, he's unable to breathe properly, not without passing out. He presses his palm against the wound and when he extracts it, it's red. The battle is still raging around him, while he's being dragged to an infirmary somewhere. He gets put on a bed by the blue eyes he noticed that first meeting.

'What the hell are you doing?', he snarls when the boy tries to extract the armour from his body and then his shirt.

'I'm trying to heal you, which is going to be tough if I can't examine the wound.', the boy answers.

Nico begrudgingly allows him to peel of his blood-soaked clothes. The boy cleans the wound and when that's done, he covers it with his hands. He closes his eyes and starts humming under his breath. A lights shines through the cracks of his fingers.

'What are you doing?', Nico manages to get out in between raspy breaths. He doesn't like this. He's not familiar with this way of healing and he doesn't particularly trust the Greeks. The boy could be doing anything to him right now. He could be making his condition worse than it already is, endangering his life. A warm feeling grows in his chest and, although it feels pleasant, it could also be something bad and dangerous.

'Never seen a medic in action? I'm trying to save your life here, so if you'd stop interrupting me that'd be great.'

Nico shut ups. He still doesn't trust the boy to save him exactly and would definitely prefer a Roman medic, but Reyna's telling everyone to work together in his head and that gets him to shut up. He's probably too tired to talk, anyway.

It's hard for Will to say how much damage has been done at the moment. Gaia sent a few of her children to fight them and the two camps of demigods managed to beat them. There are several injuries, but very few losses, which Will is grateful for.

He's been healing and taking care of people since the battle started. That was this morning and now the sky is turning a dark shade of purple. The sun is slowly setting and night will soon fall upon them, showering them in stars.

He's always loved the night-sky. As the son of the sun-god, people expect him to despise the dark, but he doesn't really. He just likes it less than the light. But he does like the feeling of serenity that comes with night-time. It calms the world and therefor Will's head.

And there are always the stars. Like little lights illuminating the room of darkness. That's probably his favourite thing about nights: the stars.

He makes his way from bed to bed, comforting people who need him, giving people the medicine that will keep them alive, and feeling useful. He's good at this, he knows exactly the right thing to say, the right thing to do.

When he comes to the bed of the boy who looks like he's got darkness living behind his eyes, it's something else, though.

'How is your side? Does it still hurt?'

The boy grumbles. 'A little.'

'Here', Will hands him a piece of ambrosia. 'Eat this, it'll ease the pain.'

Nico takes it, but doesn't eat it. He eyes it suspiciously instead, turning it around between his fingers and treating it like it's going to spring alive and eat him.

'It's not going to bite. Just eat it.'

'What is it?'

'You've never seen ambrosia before? It'll heal you. I healed most of the wound before, but this'll most likely finish the job.'

'Yeah, by _singing_ to me.', the boy says, his tone making it clear he doesn't especially like it.

Will rolls his eyes. 'Yeah, and it saved your life, so just be grateful.'

'I don't understand your Greek methods. It all seems ridiculous.'

'Listen, none of the Roman healers are free right now, so either you try to put your prejudice aside or you suffer. It's up to you.'

He stands next to the bed, one hand on his hip. He doesn't have time for whiny Romans when he has people to take care of. He looks down at the boy who's still looking at the piece of ambrosia in doubt. He surprises both of them, by popping it into his mouth all at once. He chews on it for a bit, then looks up at Will, his eyes still serious.

'Happy now?', he asks.

'Very. I'm Will, by the way. Will Solace.'

'Nico di Angelo.'

'Stuck-up'

'Irresponsible'

'Killjoys'

'Chaotic'

'Antisocial'

'Untroubled'

'You say that like it's a bad thing.'

They're both early to a meeting for some reason. Will is sitting cross-legged in front of Nico and the smile he gives is brighter than the sun.

Cecil nudges Will in the side, resulting in him spilling his drink all over the table and his shirt. They're sitting against a tree, taking a break from discussing Gaia's downfall and both camps disagreeing with each other over battle-tactics, when three Romans walk by. The praetor, Reyna, the superman look-a-like and Nico di Angelo.

After shooting Cecil a glare he quickly tries to hide the damage before the Romans see the dark stain spreading over the white of his shirt. But it's no use, it's too late. Nico sends him a quizzical look, raising his eyebrows in mock amusement.

'What the hell, Cecil!'

'You seem to like that Di Angelo boy, don't you?'

'I most certainly do not.'

Cecil huffs. 'So you haven't been constantly staring at him for the past two weeks like some blushing teenager with a crush.'

'Well, I _am_ a teenager. I do not have a crush, though. He's the _enemy,_ Cecil. What do you take me for? I'm no traitor!'

Lou Ellen opens her eyes after laying in the sun, soaking up as much warmth she can before the good weather is officially over; there are already some leaves falling. She pushes herself up from the ground on one elbow. 'Don't be so melodramatic, Will. They're not the enemy.' She stretches her legs and places her hands behind her in a sitting position before continuing. 'And there's no use denying it. Anyone with eyes can see you're into him. As a matter of fact, I overheard some kids of Aphrodite saying they think you'd be _totally adorable together.'_ , she says, imitating them in a high-pitched voice.

Will squints his eyes at her, a gesture that does not have the desired affect; all Lou Ellen does in response is snicker.

'Don't you two have better things to do?'

'Better than annoying you?', Cecil says, pretending to actually think about it. 'Nope, I don't think that's possible.'

Lou and Cecil burst out laughing. Will grumbles something that sounds remarkably similar to _I fucking hate you._

Jason and Reyna look at Nico with amused expressions etched on both their face, when he makes eye-contact with Will.

'Shut the fuck up. Both of you.', he says.

They're smart enough to listen to him, so they don't say anything. They do look at each other and shake their heads like _he's impossible._ Nico pretends he doesn't see it.

The room is lit like there are candles all around. Only there aren't. It's the moon and remnants of oil lamps still burning. The air is filled with tension and thoughts unspoken between them. Will can't tell if it's hatred, annoyance or something entirely different. He hopes it's the last one. Nico is staring at him, his eyes unreadable as always, but one corner of his mouth tugged up like it so often is when he's mocking Will. Will wants to slap that tug away. Or kiss it away. He hasn't truly decided yet.

Without realizing they moved closer to each other, and now they're standing so close to each other, Will can feel Nico's breath on his cheek and taste his presence, thick on his tongue. Nico raises an eyebrow and, yes, Will definitely wants to kiss him. He wants to know if Nico tastes the same way as he smells: a mixture of darkness and, surprisingly, roses.

And Will is nothing if not persistent. So, he closes the small space between them and when their lips meet, something in his chest breaks open. Nico doesn't taste like he smells.

 _This,_ Will thinks, _is what starlight's made of._

When Nico's hands come up and tangle in Will's hair and give a little tug, the feeling in Will's chest spills everything and magic is living inside him. He groans and pushes Nico against a wall, not too aggressively, but not too gently either. Technically, they're still rivals. Who just happen to get their frustration out by kissing each other forcefully.

When his back hits the wall, Nico yelps into their mouths and Will feels it all over his body and beyond. He has one hand on Nico's cheek and one hand firmly planted on the wall next to Nico's head. _Gods,_ he could do this forever. He's sure Nico's lips are magic enough to deliver oxygen and whatever else he needs to stay alive.

Nico is the one that pulls back first. He lets his head fall back on the wall with a light thud and looks up at Will. Will still has one hand on the wall, Nico's eyes are piercing his soul. The other boy's lips are swollen, looking thoroughly kissed, and did Will bite them too? His eyes are wide, looking almost innocent and more youthful than Will has ever seen them. His cheeks are flushed, a light pink is tinting them and he has never looked more beautiful. Or maybe Will just didn't allow himself to think of Nico in that many words before.

Both their chest are heaving and trying to take in as much air as possible.

'So much for talking strategies.', Nico smirks.

Will can't think of anything to say so he simply smiles and quickly puts his lips against Nico's again. It's sweeter and a whole lot quicker than it was before, but filled with so much and loaded with things he isn't brave enough to say aloud and cowardly puts in the kiss instead. Sometimes it takes less courage to fight a war than it takes to say what you feel.

This is the final battle. Everyone can feel it. There's a weird kind of energy buzzing in the air, a mixture of anticipation and fear. Roman and Greek demigods line the battlefield, the two camps not divided anymore, not like they were before, but tangled together. There's no apparent difference between the two, not at first sight. If you look closer you may notice the way the Romans are standing straighter and the way the Greeks are holding their swords and knives a specific way, but when you don't, they look like a team.

And in the end, there are more similarities than differences; they all have the same fire burning in their eyes, the same determined look, the same desire to survive and assure the safety of the world. Friends are exchanging last hugs, older demigods comfort the smaller ones, lovers share a kiss before the battle begins and hope it isn't the last.

Will takes Nico's hand and squeezes it. Nico squeezes back.

Together.


End file.
